Don't Forget
by Irene Claire
Summary: Missing Scene/Tag for "Ho'opio (To Take Captive). The muses said I wasn't done.


**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes:** the muse again - Amanda needed closure. This is associated to the story **Doubt. Not.** Missing Scene/Tag for "Ho'opio (To Take Captive). It was very meaningful that Danny was alone to coordinate Amanda's personal effects.

**Don't Forget**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O***

"Where did he go?"

Steve had been watching Ella's reunion from a distance. Her parents had been shuttled over as soon as their daughter was found. Alive and everyone continued to pray, hopefully _well_. But she hadn't spoken a single word yet and the officers on scene were aware of the strong potential for psychological damage.

Everyone was watching from a distance as her parents descended on the small six-year old child where she sat huddled under a blanket on a stretcher. The emergency medical team was gently insisting that she breathe into the funny mask to improve her oxygen levels. Hours in the small, tight box had severely stretched her oxygen reserves. But exhausted and confused, the terrified little girl was still mute in her stress.

And then all of that was changing now and just a few moments after her parents had finally arrived. At first, Ella quivered fearfully and stared at them with large, doe eyes as if they were ghosts. Danny had been standing next to Steve when it happened and the stress level re-escalated exponentially until tiny arms voluntarily circled her mother's neck. And then they couldn't understand any of the words through her heavy sobs.

One of the attending medics had been kind enough to walk over to explain what had happened. "Ella had been told her parents were in heaven so she didn't believe that they were really there at first. She thought we were all lying about them coming here."

Anger had returned with a vengeance and a few officers who had overheard the news had simply walked away tearfully in a need to recompose themselves. But Danny had only stiffened by his side and now, he was gone.

"Where did he go?" Steve said it again to himself and maybe louder as he turned in a circle to survey each and every person in the vicinity. He stared blankly at where he had parked. The spot was now a gaping hole. The Camaro was also mysteriously missing in action and Steve felt a raw dull ache of worry strike his chest.

"Hey, Chin. Did you see Danny leave?"

And then he was only slightly appeased when Chin nodded. "He said he had an errand to do. Something about Amanda and needing to check on the forensics team."

Steve knew what his partner was doing without needing to ask for more information. It was an intuitive feeling and it made him feel both better and yet very uneasy. He would need to wait for the inevitable phone call or visit. Steve watched as Ella's parents decided which would travel with the little girl to the hospital. It was obvious that her father wanted to go, but he of course deferred to his distraught wife.

Ella had thankfully been found and returned to her family. It beat the worst case scenario into the dust. And it was a remarkable happy ending and everyone was back to beaming and congratulating each other warmly.

But there was another worst case scenario being played out for a family that hadn't been quite so lucky. They were already becoming a forgotten piece of the terrible puzzle as they mourned the loss of their own daughter. One that hadn't been so very lucky as Ella. And yet, because of her death, Ella had been found. But so had a long list of too many other atrocities.

So Danny needed to bring her home too. Completely home. He needed to do what everyone else was forgetting.

And though he would have liked to be there, Steve completely understood.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O***

He had been sitting on the lanai for hours when he heard the car door slam out front. He made it back into the house just as the front door finally opened. Danny stood silently on the lintel looking completely drained of all energy: physically, mentally and emotionally.

Steve sighed in relief as he gently pulled him into the house. It was late and night had fallen. Nearing eight o'clock in the evening and if Steve hadn't yet found the appetite to eat, then neither would his partner.

"You okay?" The obvious first question was the safest, but Danny barely nodded. He was blinking owlishly as he collapsed onto the couch. Steve sat down next to him as he tentatively inquired about Amanda's parents.

"Are they alright?"

This time the nod coincided with Danny leaning his head back into the deep cushions and closing his eyes. He was pale and struggling with his emotions a bit more than usual. A child that was now lost forever, a recovered child and too many similarities or _what if's_ associated to Grace. Danny was exhausted but he'd finally done as much as humanly possible.

The hollow, strained voice confirmed what Steve already knew. "I didn't want her to be forgotten."

"Yeah, I know."

"Her parents needed to have something from that ... _place_." Danny found the strength to open his eyes, and they were sorrowful pools. "She kept a diary, Steve. She wrote about everything she could remember of her parents and her life before she was kidnapped."

Steve was stunned by the finding as he studied Danny's drawn face. He was rocked with fatigue and his expression communicated another level of deep empathy. Danny knew Amanda even more now and that also was good ... and bad.

"You read it. And then you brought it to her parents."

Danny closed his eyes again as he fell back once more. "For all she went through, she never gave up hope. She forced herself to remember and she wrote it all down. Every remembered sight, sound and smell."

His voice broke and then faded.

And Steve didn't know what to say. Taking the diary to her parents made sense but it broke a few rules since the Beckett's would be standing trial. Everything in that room should have been bagged and tagged as trial evidence. But of all things they had done and witnessed that day, giving that private diary to Amanda's parents was the most right. The trial would be undoubtedly long and would dredge up terrible details. The diary was special and to demean it as an exhibit while lawyers fought and tussled over every written word was unfathomable.

"Good." Steve breathed out in approval. "It will help them."

"Ten years." Danny was disturbed and overwhelmed by the enormous block of time and then how they discovered Amanda's body.

"A decade. And no one _knew_. People stopped looking for her as if she never existed and she was right here. That maniac killed her. She was alone in the jungle and she tried to run. He shot her in the back and left her."

"She lived alone. And she died alone." Nervous energy pushed Danny to his feet again and Steve surged up with him. "She was always alone."

He was breathing hard and if possible, even more pale as adrenalin waned but emotions stayed high. And Steve wasn't sure he had anything of value to offer because he felt exactly the same way. He looked down as Danny clenched and unclenched both fists. Mottled bruising spread across the knuckles of his right hand and yet, nothing was ever going to feel like enough.

"Come sit in the kitchen. It's been a long day."

Miraculously, Danny willingly followed him and sat with a tired thump at the table. Without a word, Steve unwrapped the two plates of food he'd been keeping warm in the oven and pushed one under his partner's nose.

"Water?" The raised eyebrow said that Danny felt the plain liquid a bit benign for the dealings of the day. But Steve only shrugged and confirmed what was in the glass. Stained with dirt, sweat and grime the only thing that his partner truly needed was water and a light meal. He'd dig up a spare set of clothes and throw a towel Danny's way after he managed to eat a few bites. Steve was certain that Danny would then sleep at least twelve or fourteen hours based on the subtle tremor coursing through his body.

So now, Steve nodded and sat down with his own similar glass. "Yup, Danno. Water. Drink up."

The aggrieved sigh was just loud enough and Steve couldn't help a small grin. Half the food was already gone, as was half the glass. He refilled it as Danny's head was beginning to bob awkwardly and Steve knew that the shower would have to wait for another day. He snagged the glass as Danny missed the flat table and caught the edge of the plate. After that, Steve was positive that Danny had no idea how he'd wound up in the spare bedroom and covered in blankets because Steve left him snoring before his head hit the pillows.

One child had been lost for an eternity and then found. Not quite a happy ending, but closure and she wouldn't be forgotten by the people who had loved her. Steve returned to the kitchen to sit quietly by himself. Things had not worked out entirely as planned and yet, they had.

_**~ END ~**_


End file.
